When did u realize that EMS would not be ur lifelong career?

[akroeze]

1) Getting a job as a Nurse instead

2) Going back to school for some kind of Network Administrator role

3) Going back to school for med school (this one I would really like but I'm quite annoyed that despite having 5 years of post-secondary schooling I essentially have to start at square one on an undergrad)

[FormerEMSLT297]

When I found out that I had to stay until I was 62 to get a pension and that while I was a Paramedic and Lieutenant and Haz-Mat Technician,

New York City Garbage men(Sanitation Dept) were:

A) Getting paid more than I was, and

had a 25 yr retirement at 50% of their salary, (which my NYC*EMS agency did not have at the time)

Ohh yeah and the BIG one ,,,, When the FDNY took over and "merged " the depts., and I saw my career come to a screeching HALT.......

[brentoli]

When I found out I would be below the poverty line working for Rural Metro.

[PRPGfirerescuetech]

It makes you wonder when the bread and butter of the EMS world are having these types of thoughts, and making these changes...

...where is the future of the industry?

[brentoli]

I lied.

By myself I would be a few thousand above povertly level.

But I would have to marry a sugamomma.

[Arizonaffcep]

I lied.

By myself I would be a few thousand above povertly level.

But I would have to marry a sugamomma.

Where at for R/M? They are who I started with in Tucson, and made good $. I think a basic, fresh off the street starts around $32k a year...which is very livable here.

[Joke-a-billy]

Geez, thanks a lot, guys! I feel so much better now (not!) I trained as EMT-B years ago, didn't do much with the certificate, and let it lapse. I'm approaching midlife and have been wrestling with the idea of starting over. What, I wonder, is it like to work as an EMT these days, maybe go on to paramedic school? I'd be moving house and taking a basic course which costs as much as the lest expensive yet reputable paramedic course I can find. Now I've been reading forum posts on various sites about how crappy the pay is, brutal hours, budget cuts, burnout, copter crashes, ground unit crashes, FD vs. EMS politics, lawsuits, etc., etc., etc! Someone like me ought to be able to answer the question myself: why would anyone who knows better even try it? God knows it ain't for the money (can I get an AMEN?!!) And yeah, I'd like to help people as much as would the next guy. If there truly is a need for EMT's in society, why are so many leaving and not looking back? I just read about the CNA who says he makes better money than when he was an EMT; another claims the garbagemen make out better. Good for all of them, but....ISN'T THERE SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE PICTURE???? My soul really wants to give it a try, but who wants to wake up one day and wish they were doing something else? Someone convince me it ain't all that bad, before I forget about the whole thing and start thinking about a career change to the sanitation engineering field.

[SANDMEDIC]

Well the money can be really good if you know where to look.

Currently bringing home over 90K

Back in the states before I left I was bringing home 65K working 3 24 hour shifts a week, in rural EMS thats pretty good money.

Yes the hours are long and brutal only for the first few months, then after you get some time and experience under your belt you can move to a more quiet station. Then get bored waiting for something.

Hope this helps, seems as though no one enjoys EMS.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

[firedoc5]

After being in the field for a little more than twelve years I started to have some physical problems, especially my neck and legs. Shortly after it had escalated more to my back and hips. So I was going to ease up and stop pushing myself. Even with easing up I was still getting worse. And I was dealing with some major burn-out. My (1st) wife and I moved for her job. In the new town I got on the volly Fire/Rescue there. During my physical agility test is when I stopped arguing with myself and said enough is enough. I still passed the test and got on. But I knew that would be my last test and dept. After moving from there I never tried to get on at another agency. But when I moved back to LA I did offer my services with the rural Fire/ Rescue as a driver only. They said sure, but never called me. All in all it was about sixteen years in the field. But if you include teaching, consulting, and tutoring which I still do. Then on Sept. 19th it'll be 25 yrs.

I posted on another thread something similar. I believe that thread was on burn out or something. It's just that I wonder how much longer I could have held out if I was only dealing with burn out or with only physical problems. To this day it bothers me to think that if it wasn't for dealing with both issues at the same time I could have stayed going longer, maybe even still be more active today.

[fallout]

Mine was a three month period of slowly realizing there are some glaring issues with EMS that really couldn't be fixed on the paramedic level.

One was the fact, at least where I work, who is protocol certified and who is not is largely a popularity contest. I have seen barely competent medics be certified while those who quietly do a great job of assessment and treatment fall by the wayside.

Second, the day my service put 12-leads on the ambulance, there was a furious argument among the staff. 12-lead is really the standard of cardiac care these days. It got to the point one of senior members of the service removed all the 12-lead cables because we "weren't trained in them." We had just had a class on 12-lead EKG interpretation.

The final blow was a murder scene I worked. My supervisor inappropriately field terminated the patient despite me quoting the protocol at her on scene and why this patient had to be worked under our protocols. There were also some greater ethical problems that occurred in relation to that scene. I documented in all in writing to our administration and the whole fiasco was swept under the rug.

My two years experience of EMS have made me aware of problems that will only be corrected by good medical and administrative leadership. I knew that if I stayed a career medic I would grow extremely frustrated and burnt out from trying to fix it from the bottom up. So, I decided to put in the educational time and effort and earn the right to advocate for EMS from the top down.